Houston’s giant All-Star party weekend

Share this:

The NBA All-Star keekend officially wrapped Sunday night with the All-Star Game at the Toyota Center. It was four full days of hoops, hoopla and highlight reels.

NBA players, past and present, popped up all over the Bayou City. Players painted homes, helped construct a playground, sorted donations at a food bank and visited hospitalized children.

At the George R. Brown Convention Center, site of the NBA Jam Session, fans interacted with team mascots, browsed exhibits filled with Hall of Fame treasures, tested their basketball skills and saw a touching basketball game that featured a dozen Special Olympians playing alongside current and former professional players.

The beautiful weather drew hundreds of revelers to adjacent Discovery Green, which was the weekend home to the Budweiser Clydesdales and an outdoor basketball court.

Of course, not everyone could be found downtown. The Galleria was such a popular spot with NBA fans on Saturday that the maxed-out mall was shut down at 8:15 p.m., 45 minutes before its normal closing time.

The weekend’s star power was led by Houston’s own Beyoncé and her power broker hubby, Jay-Z. Many of the entertainers, such as Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah and Nick Cannon, were featured at NBA-related events. Others dropped into town for the parties, which included Michael Jordan’s 50th birthday bash on Friday.

Jeremy Lin, the Rockets’ starting point guard, used the occasion to launch the Jeremy Lin Foundation to benefit disadvantaged children. Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and New York Knicks assistant general manager Allan Houston joined Lakewood pastor Joel Osteen for a summit on fathering and family.

Even names from other sports leagues nudged in on the action. Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson used the weekend as a backdrop for a fundraiser for his All Day Foundation. NFL stars Terrell Owens, J.J. Watt and Matt Schaub were part of his celebrity fashion show at the House of Deréon on Saturday.